I don’t know about y’all, but I had a grandmother who was getting into hijinks until the very end. She died of a heart attack when I was a teenager, but even the day before she passed there are stories of her cracking jokes and giving sass to the general population. Her story at 70 would fascinate a young Kerouac, and I’m forever surprised that I haven’t read one like hers.
I know, I know. Toni Morrison. Write the book. I get it. But whenever I consider it, I wonder if anyone would read it. But really, who wouldn’t? Why do I find so little competition in characters of advanced age, and should we be doing something about it? I would like to think yes. For this reason, I would like to suggest we add diversity tags to combat ageism in publishing.
The Rise of Diversity Tags
Along with the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, so too have readers been asking more from their publishers when it comes to diversity in literature. Not only that, many authors of marginalized communities have come forward to tell their stories of inequity and formed groups of support to pressure publishers to take action. And the publishing industry listened.
Pitch party organizers began including tags such as #POC and #LGBT to announce one’s intersectional experience and help agents curate a more diverse series of clients. Since then, this list has continued to expand year over year to include mental health, transgender, fat positive, black voices matter, disabled, neurodiverse, immigrant, own stories, and more identities. As such, more readers have found protagonists that are more like them. In short, it’s wonderful.
Why Ages Don’t Appear in Diversity Tags (Yet)
As diversity tags have grown in popularity, pitch parties have worked to create equity for underserved communities. When you think of underserved communities, it’s hard to make a case that the baby boomer generation hasn’t been well represented in media. This is true. The vast majority of wealthy authors alive today come from this demographic.
However, the vast majority of books being published today are by the younger generations. This is largely due to the technological revolution that has lowered the barrier to entry when writing a book and seeking an agent by a huge margin. This has been enormous for creating equity for marginalized communities, but in many ways it has left older generations behind, and debut authors in their 60s and 70s now must learn not only the intricate details of the querying process we all do but also basic tech knowledge like how to send a tweet that has been created past their prime.
The Case for More Age Diversity in Literature
It’s common knowledge in children’s lit that young readers by and large want to be reading about kids who are older than themselves. They want to be learning now about what is coming next for them, and they grow excited by the new experiences that are coming in their pipeline. No one wants to read a book about losing teeth when they’re in second grade. They already know the excitement and pitfalls of that experience as they and their peers have already gone through it.
This is a phenomenon that simply doesn’t end as we get older. Sure, the older we get, the more diverse our interests become. For now, this is how the industry placates us. We read science fiction or romance or history or fantasy. But we’re still not experiencing many characters in a diversity of ages. There are some roles for characters of particular ages: the retired detective coming back for one last case, the mother of small children navigating a romance, the sensei training a young newcomer. But by and large, there are fewer and fewer main character roles for men and women over the age of 30. And frankly, I refuse to believe my interesting stories are behind me at 32. I want to read about an old mistress elf who carries a lifetime of secrets and the grandfather who takes his 6-year-old grandchild on a last-second smuggling run. I want to know what my future with creaky joints but wild curiosity will hold.
What You Can Be Doing to Combat Ageism in Publishing
In order to create pressure for diversity publishing, first we have to be taking the time to read and write more diversely. So, I would like to challenge my author friends to think about the diversity in their stories to include a range of races, sexual orientations, genders, worldviews, neurological experiences, and more in addition to ages. It’s a great way to challenge your own beliefs about the world and learn from others. Encourage those around you to do the same. Then advocate for more of these stories to get a topic designation with your favorite pitch party.
At Chargot Editions, we’re believers that older voices matter and that people of every age have stories to tell about their current experience. Personally, I would love to hear them. Not all of us get a chance to learn from our elders, but that doesn’t mean we don’t need their wisdom and insight as we throttle toward them. Thanks for your consideration of this cause, and happy reading!
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